It's a cry you hear from many a marketer. They join the hot affiliate program of the week, promote it like crazy, finally get their first sign up and then 30 days later, the sign up drops out. There goes another commission out the window.

The truth is, this problem is more common than most people realize. The average length of time that any one affiliate stays with a program is about 90 days according to industry reports. Of course you have to take them with a grain of salt. The real figure is probably nowhere near that good.

So why? Why is it that a person joins an affiliate program and then drops out so quickly? Well, there are actually quite a few reasons for this problem. We'll cover the most common ones here.

One reason people drop out of an affiliate program so quickly is because of unrealistic expectations. They see this sales page with all this hype about making $30,000 in 30 days and when that doesn't happen for them they are immediately disheartened and drop out of the program because they feel they've been lied to. If they had been more realistic about joining in the first place, they may have lasted longer.

Another reason that people drop out of affiliate programs so quickly is that they get no support either from the company itself or their upline sponsor. This is a very big problem. The company, especially if it is a large one, just doesn't have time to give one on one support. That's what the sponsor is for. The problem though is that most sponsors don't know what they are doing either or are too busy to respond to emails from their affiliate. So the affiliate becomes disgusted with the lack of support and quits. Happens all the time.

Another reason that affiliates leave affiliate programs so soon is that they get bored with it. They do it for a couple of months, the thrill is gone and then suddenly they see the hot new program of the month come out and they're gone. They then hop on the new band wagon and try that program for a while before they ultimately drop out of that one. It is a never ending cycle.

Probably the most common reason that an affiliate will leave a program so quickly is because they just can't afford it anymore. Some affiliate programs can be quite costly as far as their monthly expense. Many of these people join these programs because they didn't have money to begin with and desperately needed an income. After a few months of paying $50 fees or more and not making any money, they just don't feel they can afford to throw good money after bad. So they quit.

So, is it hard to get somebody to join your program and stick with it? Yes. Is it possible to do? Can you get a person to stick with you for the long haul? Well, anything is possible. But in cases of affiliate program retention, because of human nature, it is probably quite unlikely.